Rhyl woman who lost her mum while battling cancer plans to help others

Stacey Radcliffe's ambition is now to help support others through treatment after she has been symptom-free for six months

A family was dealt a double blow, when a mum of three, who was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, lost her own mother, who was aged just 59.

Stacey Radcliffe herself was just 30 when she was diagnosed, but says losing her own mum put things into perspective: “I lost my mum halfway through treatment. She was healthy, 59, and she didn’t know that going to bed that night that she wasn’t going to wake up.

“That made me realise that nobody knows what’s around the corner and what tomorrow will bring, so that’s changed my thinking pattern slightly.

“[Cancer] was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But not as hard as losing my mum, she put everything into perspective for me, it put cancer into a place where I could manage it. Losing mum was probably the biggest thing I will have to face, as anyone will.”

Stacey, of Rhyl, has been symptom-free for six months so far, but still has some preventative surgery to go.

Some people throw their all into a fight with cancer, but Stacey says she couldn’t let it put the rest of her life on hold: “The thing with cancer is that everyone assumes that your life stops for a while, and it doesn’t.

“I still had to get up and make breakfast for my children, still had to make tea, my husband still had to work.

It was just something that still had to fit into our family schedule. My life didn’t stop for six months, I don’t think anyone’s does. It just goes quite quickly, thankfully.

Stacey Radcliffe who has beaten cancer at the young age of 31. She was treated to hair and make up session and Rebecca Morgan's shop in Prestatyn.

“Cancer is a ‘putting up with’, I think. I don’t like referring to it as a fight, when someone’s lost their fight with cancer, I don’t think anyone puts up more of a fight than anyone else. I think it’s definitely a journey, it’s a horrible blip.

“Me, personally, it was a ‘putting up with’ I had to put up with this thing for a while.

“Cancer’s been done and dealt with, and now it’s a case of getting over the fact of losing my mum”

One thing that is different with cancer compared to other serious illnesses is the effect the treatments, the radiotherapy and the chemotherapy, have on the body.

While many health boards have voucher systems to contribute to the cost of wigs, North Wales only has a limited supply of their own, which Stacey and her friend and hairdresser, Rebecca Morgan of Morgan’s in Prestatyn, think aren’t suited to younger cancer sufferers.

Rebecca has been hosting “Look good, feel good” sessions for women dealing with cancer, to help women keep their spirits up.

“There are so many women out there that don’t really buy make-up, but can you imagine you then lose your hair, your eyebrows, your lashes, and then you look at yourself one day in the mirror, and you think ‘I feel awful on the inside, but I look even worse on the outside’.”

“A lot of people hibernate, they don’t go out because they feel they look so horrendous.

Stacey Radcliffe who has beaten cancer at the young age of 31. Pictured with Rebecca Morgan

“That’s a lot of months out of your life to miss, just because no-one’s there to guide you.

“Hospitals are fantastic at making you feel better on the inside, but they haven’t got time to do that on the outside.”

Stacey finished treatment at the beginning of this year, and says the relief is huge: “It feels really good.

“I try not to think about it, I’ll be honest — I’ll have days when I forget that it even happened, just because I’ve got so many positive things going on in my life, it’s only when I sit back for a few minutes and strop and think about what we’ve been through that it’ll hit home, but it’s quite nice to wake up the following day, it’s a fresh day so I can start again.”

“I’m going to Glyndŵr University in Wrexham to do Complementary Therapies and Healthcare. I want to be there to support others through treatment, so hopefully I’ll be able to give a little bit back. I’m really excited to start.

“It’s a new chapter for us, a new start. We get “no evidence of the disease” and I’ve got six months so far, so every day is adding on.”

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The Editor

Mark Thomas

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.